418 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



off one or two of those nearest finished, and 

 either raise the others and put on more, or, 

 in closing up, mass the unfinished from 

 these on one or more of the best of the 

 colonies fed; and as I finish up I drop the 

 number of colonies used accordingly. I also 

 taper off the feeding when there are no more 

 partly built ones to put on. In putting back 

 the last few supers of these fed sections that 

 are nearly done, only a little feed compara- 

 tively is necessary in order to get them 

 capped. 



The last super to the hive will be likely to 

 be a little travel-stained, as it must be fin- 

 ished next to. the brood-nest. The others 

 having been sealed one or more supers up 

 from the brood-combs, and while new was 

 is plentiful, are very good, although not 

 quite equal to those built and finished in a 

 good steady flow. But I think that often 

 what would othei-wise have been No. 2 to 

 culls, can, by this management, be made into 

 No. 1. I find less honey in the brood-cham- 

 ber after two or three weeks' feeding than 

 one would expect where there is a good 

 queen. At first, as in the beginning of a 

 heavy natural flow, the brood-nest is chock 

 full ; but after the bees begin storing above, 

 they seem to get their " second wind." The 

 queen gets down to business, and the loose 

 honey goes above. 



I frequently find colonies with hardly 

 winter stores in the brood-combs after two 

 or three weeks of heavy feeding. But these 

 colonies will be " powerful " strong, and 

 must have attention so as not to swarm 

 after the super room is taken away, espe- 

 cially if there is a little natural " picking." 



Dunlap, Iowa. 



THE VARIOUS PHASES OF THE SWARMING 

 PROBLEM CONSIDERED 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER 



Continued from page iOS 



bees are thinking about swarming, make 

 search for queen-cells in some of the strong- 

 est colonies. If no cells are found in these 

 strongest, no need to go any further. If 

 any are found, then it may be best to go 

 through the whole apiarj^, destroying all 

 eggs and larvae found in queen-cells. Ten 

 days later make the rounds again. Destroy, 

 as before, all eggs and young larvee in queen- 

 cells. But if a colony is found with sealed 

 cells, or cells containing lai'vae well advanc- 

 ed, then the colony must be treated. If the 

 queen be a good one that you wish to retain, 

 take her with two frames of brood and bees, 

 and with these form a nucleus, and kill all 

 cells on the frames left. About ten days 

 later, kill all cells again, and return the 



queen with her two frames and bees. Leave 

 a vacancy at one side of the hive while those 

 two frames are absent — little danger that 

 those queenless bees will build comb there. 

 That colony may not make any further start 

 toward swarming again, but it may ; so you 

 must examine every ten days, and treat it 

 again if advanced larvae are found in cells. 

 I don't think I ever knew a colony to need 

 more than the second treatment. 



Suppose, however, you come to a eolonj' 

 needing treatment whose queen you do not 

 care to continue. Remove the queen, kill 

 all cells, and at the end of ten days again 

 kill all cells and introduce a j'oung laying- 

 queen. ( Having young laying queens ready 

 is an important part of the game.) If your 

 young queen is in a nucleus with full-sized 

 frames, a nice Avay to introduce her is to 

 take her with two frames — more frames if 

 she has them — as also the adhering bees, 

 and put them in the queenless colony. That 

 colony you may now call a " passer," for 

 you will " pass " it at each examination 

 without further attention for the season. 



Some colonies will never get any further 

 than to have eggs or small lai-A'te through- 

 out the season, and, of course, they will 

 need no treatment. Some may be found, 

 especially if you have good stock, that will 

 never have even an egg in a queen-cell 

 throughout the season. These will be the 

 ones likely to have record crops, and among' 

 these you should find your stock to breed 

 from. 



Marengo, 111. 



[In his article Dr. Miller refers to the 

 shake-swarm method, assuming that our 

 readers are familiar with it. As some of 

 our newer readers and some beginners may 

 not know just what it is, we here give it as 

 it appears in the latest edition of the A P 

 C and X Y Z of Bee Culture. 



After the honej'-flow has begun, and perhaps 

 three or four days (not earlier) before the colony 

 is expected to east a swarm, the hive is moved to 

 one side of the stand, and an empty one, just like 

 it, is put in its place.* In this hive are placed frames 

 havint; foundation starters or frames with full sheets 

 • — preferably the latter. But if neither is available, 

 empty combs may be used. The bees of the parent 

 colony are then shaken or brushed in front of the 

 entrance of the new hive on the old stand. Some go 

 so far as to brush all the bees out of the old hive ; 

 and tliis (an be done if the j\-eather is hot and the 

 nights warm; for young hatching brood will soon be 

 out to take care of the young brood. The supers 

 from the parent hive are next put on the new one. 

 The parent colony is then moved to a new location 

 or left by the side of the new hive with its entrance 



* i;eports show that if the colony is shaken or 

 brushed, from a week to ten days before a swarm 

 would otherwise issue, no good will be accomplished, 

 and that the bees will be likely to swarm. The shak- 

 ing should not take place before the bees feel and 

 shoiv the desire to swarm. 



